Participant selection bias for a video conferencing display layout based on gaze tracking

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed and in one embodiment includes presenting to a user a display layout associated with a video conferencing session, the display layout comprising a plurality of images of participants in the video conferencing session, wherein each of the participants is assigned to a layout category; accumulating gaze tracking information indicative of an amount of time the user has spent looking at the image of a first one of the participants relative to the images of other ones of the participants; assigning a measure of interest (“MOI”) to the first one of the participants based on the accumulated gaze tracking information; determining whether the assigned MOI meets a first threshold value; if the assigned MOI meets the first threshold value, updating the layout category to which the first one of the participants is assigned; and updating the display layout using the updated layout category to which the first one of the participants is assigned.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to network systems and, moreparticularly, to participant selection bias in the display layout of avideo conferencing session based on participant gaze tracking in suchsystems.

BACKGROUND

Electronic communications such as emails chats, online conferences,videoconferences, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are an integralpart of productivity in the modern workforce. In the case of onlineconferences, users are often provided with video data associated withthe meeting. Some online conference systems enable users to participatein an audio portion of the meeting by calling a conference number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To provide a more complete understanding of the present disclosure andfeatures and advantages thereof, reference is made to the followingdescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, whereinlike reference numerals represent like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system inwhich participant selection bias for a video conferencing display layoutbased on gaze tracking may be implemented in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is simplified diagram illustrating exemplary logic according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a simplified illustration of a user interface according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic diagram of an example multi-pane layoutthat may be used to present participants in a video conferencing sessionon the display of an endpoint utilized by a user to participate in theconferencing session in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating steps that may be executed in atechnique for participant selection bias for a video conferencingdisplay layout based on gaze tracking in accordance with one embodiment;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are simplified schematic diagrams of an exampleapplication of techniques for participant selection bias for a videoconferencing display layout based on gaze tracking in accordance withone embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating possible detailsrelated to an example infrastructure of the communication system inaccordance with one embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

Overview

A method is disclosed and in one embodiment includes presenting to auser a display layout associated with a video conferencing session, thedisplay layout comprising a plurality of images of participants in thevideo conferencing session, wherein each of the participants is assignedto a layout category; accumulating gaze tracking information indicativeof an amount of time the user has spent looking at the image of a firstone of the participants relative to the images of other ones of theparticipants; assigning a measure of interest (“MOI”) to the first oneof the participants based on the accumulated gaze tracking information;determining whether the assigned MOI meets a first threshold value; ifthe assigned MOI meets the first threshold value, updating the layoutcategory to which the first one of the participants is assigned; andupdating the display layout using the updated layout category to whichthe first one of the participants is assigned.

Example Embodiments

While the number of participants that may participate in a videoconference may be arbitrarily large, there is a practical limit on howmany of those participants a particular user's display layout willaccommodate. This is due to the necessity of using increasingly smallpanes, as well as the bandwidth and CPU cost of displaying a largenumber of participants simultaneously. As a result, video conferencinglayouts in conferences with large numbers of users will generally onlydisplay a subset of participants to any given user, often in a grid or“film strip” type layout. Embodiments described herein address mannersin which the subset may be selected and displayed in a fashion that isseamless and natural to the user.

Many Multipoint Conferencing Units (“MCUs,”) such as Cisco'sTelepresence™ Server, allow an administrator to designate a participantas a chair or identify a particular participant as “important” such thatthe MCU may ensure that the person so designated/identified participantis always included in in all users' display locations for the videoconference. Some video conferencing systems, such as WebEx™, permit auser to select one or more participants they wish to view, e.g., by“pinning” those participants, thereby ensuring those participants arealways visible on the user's display.

Embodiments herein use gaze tracking of a user viewing amulti-participant layout display for a video conferencing session todetermine which participant(s) the user is most interested in viewingand biasing selection of a subset of participants for display in thelayout so that the user views the participants in which they are mostinterested without any manual intervention or even conscious selectionon the part of the user.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a communication system100 in which participant selection bias for a video conferencing displaylayout based on gaze tracking may be implemented in accordance withembodiments described herein. In specific implementations, communicationsystem 100 can be provisioned for use in generating, managing, hosting,and/or otherwise providing virtual meetings. In certain scenarios (manyof which are detailed below), communication system 100 may be configuredfor retrieving dynamically assigned numerical identifiers for anendpoint for use in a meeting session. The architecture of communicationsystem 100 is applicable to any type of conferencing or meetingtechnology such as video conferencing architectures (e.g.,Telepresence™), web cam configurations, smartphone deployments, personalcomputing applications (e.g., Skype™) multimedia meeting platforms(e.g., MeetingPlace™, WebEx™, other virtual meeting client, etc.),desktop applications, or any other suitable environment in which videodata is sought to be managed.

Communication system 100 may include any number of endpoints 112 a-ethat can achieve suitable network connectivity via various points ofattachment. In this particular example, communication system 100 caninclude an Intranet 120, a telephony network 122, and an Internet 124,which (in this particular example) offers a pathway to a data center webzone 130 and a data center meeting zone 140. Telephony network 122 mayinclude, among other things, a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)gateway and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Data center web zone 130 includes a plurality of web servers 132, adatabase 134, and a recording element 136. Data center meeting zone 140includes a secure sockets layer hardware (SSL HW) accelerator 142, aplurality of multimedia conference servers (MCSs)/media conferencecontroller (MCC), which may comprise an MCU, 144, a collaboration bridge146, a meeting zone manager 148, a connectivity manager module 150, anda gaze tracking and layout manager (“GTLM”) module 155. As a generalproposition, each MCS/MCU can be configured to coordinate video andvoice traffic for a given online meeting. Additionally, each MCC can beconfigured to manage the MCS/MCU from data center meeting zone 140. Eachof endpoints 112 a-e can be provisioned with one or more virtual meetingapplications. A virtual meeting application may comprise one or more of,e.g., a virtual meeting client, a connectivity manager module, and aGTLM module (operably coupled to one another). A virtual meeting clientis operable (e.g., by an endpoint) to establish a connection to avirtual meeting session. The connectivity manager module is operable tofacilitate connections and data transfer with between endpoints.

Note that various types of routers and switches can be used tofacilitate communications amongst any of the elements of FIG. 1. Forexample, a call manager element 116 and a unified border element 118 canbe provisioned between telephony network 122 and Intranet 120. The callmanager element is a network manager for IP phones. Also depicted inFIG. 1 are a number of pathways (e.g., shown as solid or broken lines)between the elements for propagating meeting traffic, sessioninitiation, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)/video traffic.

FIGS. 2-3 are simplified schematic diagrams illustrating example userinterface graphics associated with one possible implementation ofcommunication system 100. Turning specifically to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is asimplified schematic diagram 200 associated with an example interfacefor conducting a virtual meeting using a virtual meeting application.This particular example relates to a virtual meeting initiation,specifically as the virtual meeting experience begins.

Semantically, the virtual meeting application is a client and serverapplication. In some embodiments, the virtual meeting application may bea web-based application. A client module can be loaded onto an enduser's endpoint via one or more webpages. A software module (e.g., aplug-in application, or a stand-alone application) can be delivered to arespective endpoint via the webpages. The software can be downloaded (orsuitably updated) before participating in the meeting. If the softwaremodule is already resident on the end user's endpoint (e.g., previouslydownloaded, provisioned through any other type of medium (e.g., compactdisk (“CD”)), then while attempting to participate in a virtual meeting,that software module would be called to run locally on the endpoint.This allows a given endpoint to establish a communication with one ormore servers (e.g., provisioned at data center meeting zone 140 and/ordata center web zone 130).

Static data can be stored in data center web zone 130. For example, thescheduling data, the login information, the branding for a particularcompany, the schedule of the day's events, etc. can all be provided indata center web zone 130. Once the meeting has begun, any meetingexperience information can be coordinated (and stored) in data centermeeting zone 140. For example, if an individual were to share adocument, or to pass the ball (i.e., pass control of the meeting), thenthat meeting experience would be managed by data center meeting zone140. In a particular implementation, data center meeting zone 140 isconfigured to coordinate the gaze tracking and layout modificationactivities with endpoints 112 a-e (e.g., via software modules). Detailsconcerning that possible implementation are described below withreference to FIG. 5.

In order to initiate joining a virtual meeting, an endpoint may connectto any point of attachment. Hence, a client (e.g., a virtual meetingclient) can perform appropriate operations to join a previouslyscheduled virtual meeting. The endpoint can be redirected to data centermeeting zone 140 (as shown in FIG. 1). The meeting zone manager 148 candirect the endpoint to connect to a specific collaboration bridge serverfor joining the upcoming meeting. If the meeting has VoIP/video streams,then the endpoint also connects to a given server (e.g., an MCS) toreceive those streams. The client is operably connected to the meeting(i.e., has completed joining the meeting) when client connected only byvoice, only by video, or by integrated voice and video. Operationally,when the client joins the virtual meeting (e.g., and launches integratedvoice and video) there are two connections being established to thecollaboration bridge and to the MCS. For the collaboration bridge, oneconnection is established to send data and a second connection isestablished to receive data. For the MCS, one connection is establishedfor control and the second connection is established for data. As themeeting begins, the meeting host may initially have control of themeeting (i.e., by default). The meeting is operational between theendpoint and other endpoint devices, which followed a similar initiationprotocol to join the meeting.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram 300 illustrating one examplescenario in which a particular meeting participant is sharing aPowerPoint presentation during a virtual meeting. This participant canfreely share his desktop such that other meeting participants canobserve information that is resident on his local machine. In theexample shown in FIG. 3, a user (“Francis”), has just joined a meetinghosted by Brian. Virtual meeting window 300 is an exemplary interfacethat is generated for display on an endpoint for Francis. Virtualmeeting window 300 includes graphical representation of a communicationsdata stream. The communications data stream includes any visual and/oraudio data transmitted to (and received by) devices that are logged intoa virtual meeting session. In this example, the communications datastream comprises presentation data 302, component 304, component 312,and user option window 306. The presentation data 302 corresponds tocontent displayed by a designated presenter within the meeting.Component 304 includes a list of participants that are currently loggedinto the virtual meeting. Component 312 includes communications data(e.g., video chat data, text chat data, or any other communication data,or graphical representations thereof, between users participating in thevirtual meeting). User option window 306 includes user interface (UI)buttons 308 and 310 for confirming or denying, respectably, an optionfor an automatic call back at a phone (e.g., a phone detected by theuser's device).

A meeting may have one or more designated presenters who share contentin the meeting. In this case, there is only one presenter, Brian, who isalso the meeting host. However, in other cases, the presenter is not thehost and, instead, is a different participant in the meeting. Brian issharing a slide show application including a presentation titled “BetterSound Quality” with other participants in the virtual meeting (asillustrated in presentation data 302). In other examples, presentationdata 302 may be other types of documents (e.g., word processor, images,etc.), a desktop, or any other presentation content that is shared by ameeting participant. In one example, the presentation data 302 may becontent uploaded by a user that is not the presenter. Presentation datais streamed to the participants that are logged into the virtual meetingsession.

The list of users actively logged into the meeting is illustrated inuser interface (UI) component 304. In this example, the list of users inthe meeting is Brian, Francis, Kevin, Bill, and Larry. UI component 312includes audio data, video data, chat data, or any other communicationdata (or graphical representation thereof) between the usersparticipating in the virtual meeting. The video chat corresponds tocommunications between the users in the list of participant. In thiscase, the user (Francis) has just joined the meeting and is viewingBrian's shared application via presentation data 302.

When Francis joins the meeting, his device only receives the graphicaldata shown in window 300. His device does not receive any audio datafrom the meeting (though audio data is being generated by other users inthe meeting) due, in part, to not being connected to the audio portionof the meeting (e.g., he has not placed a phone call into a meetingphone number that corresponds to the meeting). All of the other usershave joined the audio portion of the conference call, as indicated by atelephone icon adjacent to the name of each of the other users. BecauseFrancis is not yet connected to the audio portion, no telephone icon isadjacent to his name.

The connectivity manager module 150 generates an option 306, whichprovides an option for Francis (using his device) to join the audioportion of the meeting. Option 306 includes the message “Would you likean automatic call back at a nearby phone?” and provides input options of“YES” using UI button 308 and “NO” using UI bottom 310. If the userselects “NO” using UI bottom 310 (or by pressing the “X” in theupper-right corner of window 306), the system may prompt the user formanual input of a call-back number and/or may present a phone numberassociated with the virtual meeting for the user to call.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an example multi-panelayout 400 that may be used to present participants in a videoconferencing session on the display of an endpoint utilized by a user toparticipate in the conferencing session in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein. As shown in FIG. 4, the layout 400 includes one largepane 402 displayed atop five smaller panes 404A-404E. A primaryparticipant (“Participant A”) is shown in the large pane 402, whilesecondary participants (“Participants B-F”) are displayed in smallerpanes 404A-404E, respectively. For purposes of example, it will beassumed that there are more than six other participants in theconference so that only a subset of the total number of participantsconsisting of six of participants may be displayed at any given time. Inone embodiment, the current speaker will always be displayed in thelarge pane 402; however, an algorithm of some sort must be used todetermine which of the non-speaking participations should be displayedin the smaller panes 404A-404E at any given time. For example, a verysimple algorithm would result in the five most recent speakers beingdisplayed in the smaller panes 404A-404E in order from most recent (pane404A) to least recent (pane 404E).

In accordance with features of embodiments described herein, a measureof interest algorithm uses gaze tracking to determine a “measure ofinterest” of a user participating in a video conferencing session withrespect to each of the other participants in the video conferencingsession. The measure of interest assigned to each of the otherparticipant vis-à-vis the user is used to determine whether to increaseor decrease the likelihood that the participant will be displayed in oneof the smaller panes 404A-404E (i.e., as a secondary participant) whenthey are not the primary participant (i.e., when they are not currentlyspeaking).

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated therein is a flowchart showingsteps that may be executed in a technique for participant selection biasfor a video conferencing display layout based on gaze tracking inaccordance with embodiments described herein. It will be recognized thatone or more of the steps illustrated in FIG. 5 may be executed inconnection with each participant in a video conferencing session. Incertain embodiments, depending on the layout, one or more of the stepsillustrated in FIG. 5 may be executed in connection with only thoseparticipants that are currently displayed as a secondary participant(i.e., non-speaking participants), as noted above with reference to FIG.4. Additionally, one or more of the steps illustrated in FIG. 5 may beexecuted periodically (e.g., every 10 minutes) during a videoconferencing session.

Referring again to FIG. 5, in step 500, a gaze tracking technique isused to accumulate gaze tracking information with respect to aparticipant. In particular, a gaze tracking technique is used todetermine an amount of time the user is gazing at the participantrelative to other participants. In certain embodiments, as noted abovewith reference to FIG. 4, the gaze tracking technique is used todetermine an amount of time the user is gazing at the secondaryparticipant relative to other secondary participants. It will be notedthat any number of different gaze tracking techniques may be utilized toimplement the embodiments described herein. Additionally, gaze trackingmay be performed on the endpoint side or remotely on the conferencingserver or an intermediate service that only calculates gaze based on thereceived video. Many cameras and camera-integrating devices, such assmartphones, already include gaze tracking in their ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (“APIs”). It will be noted that the gaze trackingtechnique used must be capable of determining at which participant in amulti-participant layout a user is looking at any given time. In layoutsthat display a limited number of participants on screen, this willlikely not require a high level of accuracy and may allow the particulargaze tracking technique to be implemented cheaper or faster than mightotherwise be the case.

In step 502, a measure of interest is assigned to the participant basedon the gaze tracking information accumulated using the gaze trackingtechnique. In certain embodiments, the measure of interest may be acumulative measure based on current and previous gaze trackinginformation gathered in connection with the participant. Gaze trackingis a point measurement at any given time and therefore must be averagedover a period of time to be of use. Because the participant(s) a user isinterested in (i.e., looking at) may change over time, the period overwhich readings are averaged should ideally not extend back indefinitelybut should be limited in time. Information used in assigning a measureof interest to a participant may therefore include a history for a givenperiod of time for each participant of (1) gaze tracking information,(2) the participant present in each layout pane; and (3) whichparticipant was speaking. A measure of interest i may then be generatedfor each participant, where i is calculated from the readings of themost recent 100 seconds of data during which (a) that participant wasincluded in the layout but was not the active speaker and (b) the userwas looking at a participant other than the active speaker. From thesereadings, i would be equal to the percentage of gaze readings in whichthe user was looking at the pane containing that participant. A highvalue for i would suggest that the user has a high level of interest inthe participant.

Many more complex algorithms may be possible, such as assigning extraweight to readings that show a user choosing to look at a nonspeakingparticipant while another participant was actively speaking.Implementations may also determine that the experience improvise if thedata for each layout is normalized. For example, analysis may show thatfor certain layouts, users tend to focus on a particular participantpane irrespective of the contents of the pane due simply to the positionthereof (the center pane in a 3×3 grid layout, for example). In thatcase, the implementation may correct for this when converting the gazetracking data to an interest measurement to get a more accuratedetermination of what the user was actually interested in. If such acorrection factor is being applied, the factor could be appliedstatistically based on the collected data, with the final result beingincluded in the code or retrieved from a server or it could be computedby the device dynamically bus storing all results for a given layoutover time and using that data to calculate the bias for each layout.This could be performed in aggregate or potentially to produce a uniquefactor for each user on the device if the device is shared betweenmultiple users and can differentiate between/among them.

For example, in one embodiment, a measure of interest may be assigned toa participant based on the following rule: Of the immediately precedingfive minutes of gaze tracking, for the time period during whichparticipant X was visible as a secondary participant and the user waslooking at one of the secondary participants (i.e., not the primaryparticipant, or speaker, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4), forwhat percentage of time was the user looking at participant X? Toillustrate this scenario, it will be assumed for the sake of examplethat during the immediately preceding five minutes, participant 5 wasvisible as a secondary participant the entirety of that time, the userwas looking at one of the five secondary participants for a total of twominutes, and of those two minutes during which the user was looking atone of the five secondary participants, the user never looked atsecondary participant 1, looked at participant 2 for a total of 10seconds, looked at participant 3 for a total of 20 seconds, looked atparticipant 4 for a total of 30 seconds, and looked at participant 5 fora total of 60 seconds. Using the foregoing example, for the measurementtime period, participant 1 may be assigned a measure of interest of 0,participant 2 may be assigned a measure of interest of y, participant 3may be assigned a measure of interest of 2y, participant 4 may beassigned a measure of interest of 3y and participant 5 may be assigned ameasure of interest of 6y.

Referring again to FIG. 5, in step 504, a determination is made whetherthe participant's measure of interest meets a measure of interestcriteria established for display. If so, in step 506, the participant isdisplayed in the layout; otherwise, execution proceeds to step 508. Instep 508, a determination is made whether the participant meets defaultcriteria for display, such as being the most recent active speaker orone of the most recent active speakers. If so, execution proceeds tostep 506, in which the participant is displayed in the layout;otherwise, execution proceeds to step 510, in which the participant isnot displayed.

In general, once a measure of interest is calculated for each of theparticipants in the video conferencing session, the participantsincluded in the layout may be altered based on that information (e.g.,steps 504-510). For example, consider a layout such as that illustratedin FIG. 4. By default, the participant who is speaking or who spoke mostrecently (if no one is currently speaking) is shown in the pane 402,while the five secondary panes 404A-404E show the five participants whohave most recently spoken. Any participant whose measure of interest iexceeds 0.3 is promoted to an “interested” layout category and is alwaysdisplayed in one of the secondary panes 404A-404E if they are notspeaking. The remaining panes are filled with the other most recentspeakers as before. If the measure of interest for a particularparticipant falls below 0.15, that participant is removed from the“interested” layout category and not displayed in the layout unless theyqualify as a recent speaker, for example. It will be recognized thatthere are many other different and/or more complex algorithms that couldbe implemented to determine which participants are displayed at anygiven time For example, rather than a binary pair of layout categories(e.g., “interested” and “not interested” or “primary” and “secondary”),an algorithm might instead increase the “stickiness” of a participant inthe secondary set of panes so that rather than being removed when therewere five more recent speakers, the participant remained until therewere eight or none more recent speakers, with the stickiness increasingas the measure of interest of that particular participant increased.

It should be noted that, while the example display layout shown in FIG.4 includes only a single primary participant pane, two or more suchpanes may be included, with a portion (e.g., the top) of the displaybeing split among such primary participant panes, with such panespresumably being larger than the secondary participant frames (e.g.,displayed along the bottom of the layout) so as to be easilydistinguished therefrom. Additionally, the number of panes included inthe display layout may be dynamic, such that the number of panes may beincreased and decreased in accordance with the number of participantsassigned to a particular layout category such that more/fewer suchparticipants may be presented at a given time. The geometry of thedisplay layout itself might even be modified based on the measure ofinterest of each of the participants. For example, a very high measureof interest in a particular participant for a persistent period mightresult in the layout being changed to one in which that participant wereshown in an equal size to the active speaker (e.g., in a second “primarypane”). This might be done automatically or by prompting the user toindicate whether the user would like the change to be made.Alternatively, all of the participants may be initially displayed inequally-sized panes, with a participant being promoted to a “primaryparticipant” category when the MOI of that participant exceeds apredetermined threshold value. It will be recognized that any number ofalternatives to the layouts explicitly described herein may beimplemented without departing from the spirit of the scope of theinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, illustrated therein are three snapshots overtime, respectively designated by reference numerals 600A, 600B, and600C, of a video conferencing session in which a user is participating.Dots 602A, 602B, and 602C indicate the user's gaze at the time of thesnapshot as tracked by a gaze tracking module, such as GTLM module 155(FIG. 1). Referring to FIG. 6A, in snapshot 600A, as indicated by dot602A, the user is looking at participant A, as indicated by dot 602A,who at the time of the snapshot is the primary participant/speaker. Insnapshot 600B, the user is looking at participant M, as indicated by dot602B, who at the time of the snapshot is a secondary participant. Insnapshot 600C, the user is looking at participant K, as indicated by dot602B, who at the time of the snapshot is the primaryparticipant/speaker. In accordance with features of embodimentsdescribed herein, the first and third snapshots 600A, 600C, may beignored, as the user is looking at the primary speaker, as would beexpected. However, in the second snapshot 600B, the user is looking at asecondary participant. As a result, this value is recorded and increasesthe measure of interest assigned to participant M. Additionally, incertain embodiments, the measure of interest assigned to participants H,J, E, and P, respectively, may be decreased due to the relativedisinterest shown by the user. The measure of interest assigned to anyparticipant who is not shown in the snapshot 600B is unaffected by theuser's interest in participant M, since those users were not displayed.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, it will be further assumed for the sake ofexample with respect to the example illustrated in FIG. 6A the layoutmay be updated based on the following rule: If any participant's measureof interest exceeds N, then that participant will always be displayed asa secondary participant if they are not displayed as the primaryparticipant. FIG. 6B illustrates three snapshots 650A, 650B, 650C, laterin time than, but during the same video conferencing session as, thesnapshots 600A, 600B, 600C, of FIG. 6A. Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, itwill be assumed for the sake of example that participant M′s measure ofinterest is greater than N; therefore, participant M is displayed as asecondary user in snapshot 650A, as the primary participant (i.e.,speaker) in snapshot 650B, and as a secondary user again in snapshot650C. As no other participants meets the threshold measure of interestN, the other secondary participants displayed in each of the snapshots(e.g., participants B, L, N, and F, in snapshot 650A, participants A, C,D, N, and P, in snapshot 650B, and participants B, J, E, and F, insnapshot 650C) are selected using another rule, such as most recentspeaker or a rolling selection, for example.

The embodiments described herein address cases in which the user'sdevice can directly measure gaze, control the layout geometry, andselect the participants appearing in the layout; however, they areequally applicable to systems in which some or all of that functionalityis implemented elsewhere in the system. For example, in many videoconferencing systems, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, the layout maybe selected by a MCU (or MCS) and then sent to the display of the user'sdevice as a single video stream. In this case, the user's device couldperform gaze tracking and pass the raw gaze data to the MCU using somemethod such as an out-of-band signaling channel or in a media-levelchannel negotiated in SIP. The MCU could then convert those values tomeasurements of interest and change the layout as appropriate.Alternatively, the MCU could signal which participant is present inwhich pane any time and the user device could determine the measurementsof interest and simply signal the MCU about which participants should beplaced in the “interested” layout category. Given a high resolutioncamera and only a need for limited accuracy, the gaze tracking couldpotentially be performed by the MCU itself.

In case in which the user is known and has persistent state associatedwith the user in the system, the system can make a user's measure ofinterest in participants persistent; that is, it can remember theoverall measure of interest a user has shown in any given participantduring a first video conferencing session, which measure of interest maybe carried over to weigh the initial measure of interest in thatparticipant in a subsequent video conferencing session.

In some architectures, participant selection for conference layouts maynot be independent for each user; for example, an MCU may be encoding asingle layout that is sent to all participants or the infrastructure maybe distributed, in which case only a limited set of participant viewsare available for use at any given time due to limited bandwidth ofthose “cascade” links. In such scenarios, embodiments described hereinmay be implemented as follows. The gaze measurements or requests couldbe passed to the infrastructure, which could then aggregate them tocreate a set of measurements that may be applied to the shared layoutthat is available to all users. For example, if most users tended to paymore attention to one participant in a conference (e.g., the CEO), thelayout decision logic implemented by the MCU could ensure that thatparticipant was always visible.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram illustrating one possible exampleof infrastructure associated with communication system 100. Each ofendpoints 112 a-e are provisioned with a respective GTLM module 82 a-e,a respective processor 84 a-e, a respective memory element 86 a-e, arespective virtual meeting module 90 a-e (e.g., a virtual meetingapplication), a respective Meeting Place module 92 a-e, and a respectivenetwork interface 88 a-e, which includes a respective receiving moduleand a respective transmitting module for exchanging data (e.g., forexchanging packets in a network environment). Endpoint 112 e alsoincludes a telephony module for communicating with telephony network122. Additionally, FIG. 7 illustrates an example implementation ofMCSs/MCC 144 that is similarly provisioned with a GTLM module 82 f, aprocessor 84 f, and a memory element 86 f.

In one example implementation, each endpoint 112 a-e and/or MCSs/MCC 144includes software (e.g., as part of GTLM modules 82 a-f) to achieve orto support the endpoint identification functions, as outlined herein inthis document. In other embodiments, this feature may be providedexternally to any of the aforementioned elements, or included in someother network element to achieve this intended functionality.Alternatively, several elements may include software (or reciprocatingsoftware) that can coordinate in order to achieve the operations, asoutlined herein. In still other embodiments, any of the devices of theFIGURES may include any suitable algorithms, hardware, software,components, modules, interfaces, or objects that facilitate theseendpoint identification operations.

It is imperative to note that FIG. 7 is indicative of just one, of themultitude, of example implementations of communication system 100. Anyof the modules or elements within endpoints 112 a-e and/or MCSs/MCC 144may readily be replaced, substituted, or eliminated based on particularneeds. Furthermore, although described with reference to particularscenarios, where a given module (e.g., virtual meeting modules 90 a-e,Meeting Place modules 92 a-e, GTLM modules 82 a-f, etc.) is providedwithin endpoints 112 a-e or MCSs/MCC 144, any one or more of theseelements can be provided externally, or consolidated and/or combined inany suitable fashion. In certain instances, certain elements may beprovided in a single proprietary module, device, unit, etc. in order toachieve the teachings of the present disclosure.

Endpoints 112 a-e are representative of any type of client or userwishing to participate in a meeting session in communication system 100(e.g., or in any other online platform). Furthermore, endpoints 112 a-ecan be associated with individuals, clients, customers, or end userswishing to participate in a meeting session in communication system 100via some network. The term ‘endpoint’ is inclusive of devices used toinitiate a communication, such as a computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a laptop or electronic notebook, a cellular telephoneof any kind, an iPhone, an IP phone, a Blackberry, a Google Droid, aniPad, a tablet, or any other device, component, element, or objectcapable of initiating voice, audio, video, media, and/or data exchangeswithin communication system 100. Endpoints 112 a-e may also be inclusiveof a suitable interface to the human user, such as a microphone, adisplay, or a keyboard or other terminal equipment. Endpoints 112 a-emay also be any device that seeks to initiate a communication on behalfof another entity or element, such as a program, a proprietaryconferencing device, a database, or any other component, device,element, or object capable of initiating an exchange withincommunication system 100. Data, as used herein in this document, refersto any type of numeric, voice, video, media, or script data, or any typeof source or object code, or any other suitable information in anyappropriate format that may be communicated from one point to another.

MCSs/MCC 144 and web servers 132 are network elements that manage (orthat cooperate with each other in order to manage) aspects of a meetingsession. As used herein in this Specification, the term ‘networkelement’ is meant to encompass any type of servers (e.g., a videoserver, a web server, etc.), routers, switches, gateways, bridges, loadbalancers, firewalls, inline service nodes, proxies, network appliances,processors, modules, or any other suitable device, component, element,or object operable to exchange information in a network environment.This network element may include any suitable hardware, software,components, modules, interfaces, or objects that facilitate theoperations thereof. This may be inclusive of appropriate algorithms andcommunication protocols that allow for the effective exchange (receptionand/or transmission) of data or information. In one particular example,MCSs/MCC 144 and web servers 132 are servers that can interact with eachother via the networks of FIG. 1.

Intranet 120, telephony network 122, and Internet 124 represent a seriesof points or nodes of interconnected communication paths for receivingand transmitting packets of information that propagate throughcommunication system 100. These networks may offer connectivity to anyof the devices or endpoints of FIG. 1. Moreover, Intranet 120, telephonynetwork 122, and Internet 124 offer a communicative interface betweensites (and/or participants, rooms, etc.) and may be any local areanetwork (LAN), wireless LAN (WLAN), metropolitan area network (MAN),wide area network (WAN), extranet, Intranet, virtual private network(VPN), virtual LAN (VLAN), or any other appropriate architecture orsystem that facilitates communications in a network environment.

Intranet 120, telephony network 122, and Internet 124 can support atransmission control protocol (TCP)/IP, or a user datagram protocol(UDP)/IP in particular embodiments of the present disclosure; however,Intranet 120, telephony network 122, and Internet 124 may alternativelyimplement any other suitable communication protocol for transmitting andreceiving data packets within communication system 100. Note also thatIntranet 120, telephony network 122, and Internet 124 can accommodateany number of ancillary activities, which can accompany a meetingsession. This network connectivity can facilitate all informationalexchanges (e.g., notes, virtual whiteboards, PowerPoint presentations,e-mailing, word-processing applications, etc.). Along similar reasoning,Intranet 120, telephony network 122, and Internet 124 can foster allsuch communications and, further, be replaced by any suitable networkcomponents for facilitating the propagation of data between participantsin a conferencing session.

It should also be noted that endpoints 112 a-e and MCSs/MCC 44 may share(or coordinate) certain processing operations. Using a similarrationale, their respective memory elements may store, maintain, and/orupdate data in any number of possible manners. Additionally, any of theillustrated memory elements or processors may be removed, or otherwiseconsolidated such that a single processor and a single memory locationis responsible for certain activities associated with talking stickoperations. In a general sense, the arrangement depicted in FIG. 7 maybe more logical in its representations, whereas a physical architecturemay include various permutations/combinations/hybrids of these elements.

Note that in certain example implementations, the endpointidentification functions outlined herein may be implemented by logicencoded in one or more tangible media (e.g., embedded logic provided inan application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signalprocessor (DSP) instructions, software (potentially inclusive of objectcode and source code) to be executed by a processor, or other similarmachine, etc.). In some of these instances, a memory element (as shownin FIG. 7) can store data used for the operations described herein. Thisincludes the memory element being able to store software, logic, code,or processor instructions that can be executed to carry out theactivities described in this Specification. A processor can execute anytype of instructions associated with the data to achieve the operationsdetailed herein in this Specification. In one example, the processor (asshown in FIG. 7) could transform an element or an article (e.g., data)from one state or thing to another state or thing. In another example,the activities outlined herein may be implemented with fixed logic orprogrammable logic (e.g., software/computer instructions executed by aprocessor) and the elements identified herein could be some type of aprogrammable processor, programmable digital logic (e.g., a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), an erasable programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM)) oran ASIC that includes digital logic, software, code, electronicinstructions, or any suitable combination thereof.

In one example implementation, GTLM module 82 a-f includes software inorder to achieve the endpoint identification functions outlined herein,such as those illustrated in FIG. 5. These activities can be facilitatedby MCSs/MCC 144 and/or the various endpoints 112 a-e. MCSs/MCC 144and/or endpoints 112 a-e can include memory elements for storinginformation to be used in achieving the intelligent endpointidentification functions, as outlined herein. Additionally, MCSs/MCC 144and/or endpoints 112 a-e may include a processor that can executesoftware or an algorithm to perform the endpoint identificationcontrols, as discussed in this Specification. These devices may furtherkeep information in any suitable memory element (random access memory(RAM), ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, ASIC, etc.), software, hardware, or in anyother suitable component, device, element, or object where appropriateand based on particular needs. Any possible memory items (e.g.,database, table, cache, etc.) should be construed as being encompassedwithin the broad term ‘memory element.’ Similarly, any of the potentialprocessing elements, modules, and machines described in thisSpecification should be construed as being encompassed within the broadterm ‘processor.’

Embodiments described herein enable users to continue to use aparticular telepresence product in precisely the manner to which theyhave become accustomed, but results in an improved experience withoutany action required on the part of the user. Unlike the aforementioned“pinning” of a secondary participant, embodiments described herein areexecuted automatically and require no action on the part of the user; infact, it is anticipated that the effects will be transparent to theuser. Rather, embodiments described herein accentuate and amplify theactions that a user is already taking; that is, paying particularattention to a participant. As a result, participants to which the useris paying particular attention automatically and transparently becausemore prominently featured in the video conferencing session and moreoften included in the layout, seamlessly improving utility withoutexplicit action on the user's part.

Embodiments described herein also potentially allow for dynamic changingof the layout itself. In particular, by automatically changing or byprompting the user to do so when measurements of their interest suggestthat they would like to do so, a user would experience a big increase inthe utility of the feature.

In summary, embodiments described herein use gaze tracking to determinewhich non-speaking participants a user is paying particular attention toand then weights the selection algorithm to maximize the amount of timethat participant and/or those participants are visible to the user. Thisensures that each user ends up seeing the subset of participants thatthey are most interested in seeing. The technique can also help provideinformation to weight message prominence in cloud systems or the like.

Note that with the examples provided herein, interaction may bedescribed in terms of two or three elements. However, this has been donefor purposes of clarity and example only. In certain cases, it may beeasier to describe one or more of the functionalities of a given set offlows by only referencing a limited number of network elements. Itshould be appreciated that communication system 100 (and its teachings)are readily scalable and can accommodate a large number of rooms andsites, as well as more complicated/sophisticated arrangements andconfigurations. Accordingly, the examples provided herein should notlimit the scope or inhibit the broad teachings of communication system100 as potentially applied to a myriad of other architectures.Additionally, although described with reference to particular scenarioswhere MCSs/MCC 144 resides in a particular physical location, MCSs/MCC144 can reside in any location, provided it has some connectivity to asuitable network.

It is also important to note that the steps discussed with reference toFIGS. 1-7 illustrate only some of the possible scenarios that may beexecuted by, or within, communication system 100. Some of these stepsmay be deleted or removed where appropriate, or these steps may bemodified or changed considerably without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. In addition, a number of these operations have beendescribed as being executed concurrently with, or in parallel to, one ormore additional operations. However, the timing of these operations maybe altered considerably. The preceding operational flows have beenoffered for purposes of example and discussion. Substantial flexibilityis provided by communication system 100 in that any suitablearrangements, chronologies, configurations, and timing mechanisms may beprovided without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail withreference to particular embodiments, it should be understood thatvarious other changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.For example, although the present disclosure has been described asoperating in virtual meeting and Meeting Place conferencing environmentsor arrangements, the present disclosure may be used in any onlineenvironment that could benefit from such technology. For example, incertain instances, computers that are coupled to each other in somefashion can utilize the teachings of the present disclosure (e.g., eventhough participants would be in a face-to-face arrangement). Theendpoint identification could still be respected by those meetingparticipants: even when they are physically co-located. Virtually anyconfiguration that seeks to intelligently identify endpoint andconnection users could enjoy the benefits of the present disclosure.Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, andmodifications may be ascertained to one skilled in the art and it isintended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications as fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

Computer program logic implementing all or part of the functionalitydescribed herein is embodied in various forms, including, but in no waylimited to, a source code form, a computer executable form, and variousintermediate forms (for example, forms generated by an assembler,compiler, linker, or locator). In an example, source code includes aseries of computer program instructions implemented in variousprogramming languages, such as an object code, an assembly language, ora high-level language such as OpenCL, Fortran, C, C++, JAVA, or HTML foruse with various operating systems or operating environments. The sourcecode may define and use various data structures and communicationmessages. The source code may be in a computer executable form (e.g.,via an interpreter), or the source code may be converted (e.g., via atranslator, assembler, or compiler) into a computer executable form.

Note that with the numerous examples provided herein, interaction may bedescribed in terms of two, three, four, or more electrical components.However, this has been done for purposes of clarity and example only. Itshould be appreciated that the system can be consolidated in anysuitable manner. Along similar design alternatives, any of theillustrated components, modules, and elements of the FIGURES may becombined in various possible configurations, all of which are clearlywithin the broad scope of this Specification. In certain cases, it maybe easier to describe one or more of the functionalities of a given setof flows by only referencing a limited number of electrical elements. Itshould be appreciated that the electrical circuits of the FIGURES andits teachings are readily scalable and can accommodate a large number ofcomponents, as well as more complicated/sophisticated arrangements andconfigurations. Accordingly, the examples provided should not limit thescope or inhibit the broad teachings of the electrical circuits aspotentially applied to a myriad of other architectures.

Note that in this Specification, references to various features (e.g.,elements, structures, modules, components, steps, operations,characteristics, etc.) included in “one embodiment”, “exampleembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, “other embodiments”, “alternative embodiment”,and the like are intended to mean that any such features are included inone or more embodiments of the present disclosure, but may or may notnecessarily be combined in the same embodiments.

Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, andmodifications may be ascertained to one skilled in the art and it isintended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications as fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims. In order to assist the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and, additionally, anyreaders of any patent issued on this application in interpreting theclaims appended hereto, Applicant wishes to note that the Applicant: (a)does not intend any of the appended claims to invoke paragraph six (6)of 35 U.S.C. section 112 as it exists on the date of the filing hereofunless the words “means for” or “step for” are specifically used in theparticular claims; and (b) does not intend, by any statement in thespecification, to limit this disclosure in any way that is not otherwisereflected in the appended claims. The ‘means for’ in these instances(above) can include (but is not limited to) using any suitable componentdiscussed herein, along with any suitable software, circuitry, hub,computer code, logic, algorithms, hardware, controller, interface, link,bus, communication pathway, etc. In a second example, the systemincludes memory that further comprises machine-readable instructionsthat when executed cause the system to perform any of the activitiesdiscussed above.

Note that all optional features of the apparatus described above mayalso be implemented with respect to the method or process describedherein and specifics in the examples may be used anywhere in one or moreembodiments.

In accordance with the well-established principle that an “applicant isentitled to be his or her own lexicographer,” MPEP 2111.01(IV), citingIn re Paulson, 30 F.3d 1475, 1480 (Fed. Cir. 1994), certain terms havebeen expressly defined herein. It is expressly intended that those termshave the definitions supplied, and that they not be given anyinterpretation inconsistent with those definitions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: presenting to a user adisplay layout associated with a video conferencing session, the displaylayout comprising a plurality of images of participants in the videoconferencing session, wherein each of the participants is assigned to alayout category, wherein the display layout comprises at least oneprimary pane and an M number of secondary panes in which the images arepresented; accumulating gaze tracking information indicative of anamount of time the user has spent looking at the image of a first one ofthe participants relative to the images of other ones of theparticipants; assigning a measure of interest (“MOI”) to the first oneof the participants based on the accumulated gaze tracking information;determining whether the assigned MOI meets a first threshold value; ifthe assigned MOI meets the first threshold value, updating the layoutcategory to which the first one of the participants is assigned; andupdating the display layout using the updated layout category to whichthe first one of the participants is assigned, wherein each of theparticipants has an MOI associated therewith, the updating the displaylayout further comprising: presenting in the at least one primary panean image of a current speaker in the video conferencing session;presenting in the secondary panes images of participants who are themost recent N speakers in the video conferencing session, where N<M, and(M-N) images of participants in the video conferencing session who haveMOIs meeting the first threshold value and who are prior speakers andare not the most recent N speakers; and removing from the display layoutan image of a participant in the video conferencing session who has anMOI that does not meet the first threshold value and who is not one ofthe most recent N speakers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at a giventime, only one participant is categorized as a primary participant andeach remaining participant is categorized as a secondary participant. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: if the first one of theparticipants is categorized as a secondary participant and the MOI meetsthe first threshold value, presenting the image of the first one of theparticipants in one of the secondary panes.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein a participant in the video conferencing session who is a currentspeaker is categorized as the primary participant and an image of theprimary participant is presented in the at least one primary pane. 5.The method of claim 1, the updating the display layout furthercomprising presenting in the secondary panes images of participantscategorized as secondary participants having assigned MOIs that meet thefirst threshold value.
 6. The method of claim 1, the updating thedisplay layout comprising, if the first one of the participants iscategorized as a primary participant, displaying the image of the firstone of the participants in the at least one primary pane.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein all of the images presented in the display layoutare initially equally sized, the method further comprising: if theassigned MOI meets the first threshold value, categorizing the first oneof the participants as a primary participant and the rest of theparticipants as secondary participants; wherein the updating the displaylayout comprises displaying the image of the first one of theparticipants such that the image of the first one of the participants islarger than the images of the remaining ones of the participants.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: if the assigned MOI of the firstone of the participants falls below the first threshold value,determining whether the first one of the participants meets a defaultcriterion; and if the first one of the participants fails to meet thedefault criterion, removing the image of the first one of theparticipants from the display layout.
 9. One or more non-transitorytangible media that includes code for execution and when executed by aprocessor is operable to perform operations comprising: presenting to auser a display layout associated with a video conferencing session, thedisplay layout comprising a plurality of images of participants in thevideo conferencing session, wherein each of the participants is assignedto a layout category, wherein the display layout comprises at least oneprimary pane and an M number of secondary panes in which the images arepresented; accumulating gaze tracking information indicative of anamount of time the user has spent looking at the image of a first one ofthe participants relative to the images of other ones of theparticipants; assigning a measure of interest (“MOI”) to the first oneof the participants based on the accumulated gaze tracking information;determining whether the assigned MOI meets a first threshold value; ifthe assigned MOI meets the first threshold value, updating the layoutcategory to which the first one of the participants is assigned; andupdating the display layout using the updated layout category to whichthe first one of the participants is assigned, wherein each of theparticipants has an MOI associated therewith, the updating the displaylayout further comprising: presenting in the at least one primary panean image of a current speaker in the video conferencing session;presenting in the secondary panes images of participants who are themost recent N speakers in the video conferencing session, where N<M, and(M-N) images of participants in the video conferencing session who haveMOIs meeting the first threshold value and who are prior speakers andare not the most recent N speakers; and removing from the display layoutan image of a participant in the video conferencing session who has anMOI that does not meet the first threshold value and who is not one ofthe most recent N speakers.
 10. The media of claim 9, furthercomprising: if the first one of the participants is categorized as asecondary participant and the MOI meets the first threshold value,presenting the image of the first one of the participants in one of thesecondary panes.
 11. The media of claim 9, wherein a participant in thevideo conferencing session who is a current speaker is categorized as aprimary participant and an image of the primary participant is presentedin the at least one primary pane.
 12. The media of claim 9, the updatingthe display layout further comprising presenting in the secondary panesimages of participants categorized as secondary participants havingassigned MOIs that meet the first threshold value.
 13. The media ofclaim 9, wherein all of the images presented in the display layout areinitially equally sized, the operations further comprising: if theassigned MOI meets the first threshold value, categorizing the first oneof the participants as a primary participant and the rest of theparticipants as secondary participants; wherein the updating the displaylayout comprises displaying the image of the first one of theparticipants such that the image of the first one of the participants islarger than the images of the remaining ones of the participants. 14.The media of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: if theassigned MOI of the first one of the participants falls below the firstthreshold value, determining whether the first one of the participantsmeets a default criterion; and if the first one of the participantsfails to meet the default criterion, removing the image of the first oneof the participants from the display layout.
 15. An apparatuscomprising: a memory element configured to store data; and a processoroperable to execute instructions associated with the data, wherein theprocessor is configured to: present to a user a display layoutassociated with a video conferencing session, the display layoutcomprising a plurality of images of participants in the videoconferencing session, wherein each of the participants is assigned to alayout category, wherein the display layout comprises at least oneprimary pane and an M number of secondary panes in which the images arepresented; accumulate gaze tracking information indicative of an amountof time the user has spent looking at the image of a first one of theparticipants relative to the images of other ones of the participants;assign a measure of interest (“MOI”) to the first one of theparticipants based on the accumulated gaze tracking information;determine whether the assigned MOI meets a first threshold value; if theassigned MOI meets the first threshold value, update the layout categoryto which the first one of the participants is assigned; and update thedisplay layout using the updated layout category to which the first oneof the participants is assigned, wherein each of the participants has anMOI associated therewith, by: presenting in the at least one primarypane an image of a current speaker in the video conferencing session;presenting in the secondary panes images of participants who are themost recent N speakers in the video conferencing session, where N<M, and(M-N) images of participants in the video conferencing session who haveMOIs meeting the first threshold value and who are prior speakers andare not the most recent N speakers; and removing from the display layoutan image of a participant in the video conferencing session who has anMOI that does not meet the first threshold value and who is not one ofthe most recent N speakers.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein ifthe first one of the participants is categorized as a secondaryparticipant and the MOI meets the first threshold value, the processoris further configured to present the image of the first one of theparticipants in one of the secondary panes.
 17. The apparatus of claim15, wherein a participant in the video conferencing session who is acurrent speaker is categorized as a primary participant and theprocessor is further configured to present an image of the primaryparticipant in the at least one primary pane.
 18. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the processor is further configured to present in thesecondary panes images of participants categorized as secondaryparticipants having assigned MOIs that meet the first threshold value.19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein all of the images presented inthe display layout are initially equally sized, the processor furtherconfigured to: if the assigned MOI meets the first threshold value,categorize the first one of the participants as a primary participantand the rest of the participants as secondary participants; wherein theupdating the display layout comprises displaying the image of the firstone of the participants such that the image of the first one of theparticipants is larger than the images of the remaining ones of theparticipants.
 20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: if the assigned MOI of the first one of theparticipants falls below the first threshold value, determine whetherthe first one of the participants meets a default criterion; and if thefirst one of the participants fails to meet the default criterion,remove the image of the first one of the participants from the displaylayout.